First BioShock Video

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Feast your eyes on the very first video footage of Irrational's exceptional new game.

By Douglass C. Perry

When a game wins multiple Electronic Entertainment Exposition Game Critics awards, people tend to get excited. Here at IGN, despite the awe generated by Nintendo's fabulous new Wii, we took a fancy to BioShock with more than just a little lust and glee. Created by Irrational Studios (SWAT, Freedom Force, System Shock 2, Tribes Vengeance) and led by Ken Levine, BioShock has all the trappings of what this next generation of systems is supposed to be about: superb graphics, excellent technology, and new gameplay experiences. BioShock looks to expand the first-person shooter with startlingly keen AI systems and behaviors, original art design, and a rich, deep, creepy story that will unnerve you.

Shoot, manipulate, sneak, it's all part of living in Rapture.

Today, IGN has the pleasure of delivering the very first in-game video footage of BioShock in high definition. What you'll see is a 15-minute demonstration based on the Xbox 360 build narrated by President and Lead Designer Ken Levine. This original demo was first shown at E3 in May, however, it's been re-done using the latest build of the game for this demonstration. Wonder why it hasn't been shown to this date? 2K Games and Irrational have been exceptionally careful with their property, taking time to create a really good, high quality video feature to show it off in the best possible light. This is it.

Pay particular attention to the water visuals, the real-time lighting and shadows, and look around at the underwater dystopia of Rapture. It's a beautifully imagined world ravaged by conflicting ideologies, genetic mutations, and in the background, this imaginary civilization is slowly being taken over by nature itself. Irrational's art direction is handled with an erudite touch. The art deco architecture, movie posters, and attention to detail are top grade. Aside from the graphics, the gameplay in this demo is revealed slowly, starting with basic AI behaviors and moving onto action, system and AI manipulation. Be patient. It's a 15-minute video walkthrough; and Levine takes his time to explain the story and concept. He gives you time to soak it all up before the action takes place and then as you're getting anxious, wondering if it will happen at all, it comes flooding in.

One last note; this is a huge video file. Downloading it will take time, but we promise this will be worth it.